1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination of a sheet roll comprised of a heat transfer recording sheet used in thermal facsimile devices with a subshaft, a packaging apparatus thereof, and a production system thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Conventional facsimile devices use a heat transfer recording sheet rolled on a roll shaft in the form of roll. This recording sheet is also called as a donor, which has such a structure that a hot melt ink layer consisting of a binder of wax, resins, etc., and a color agent is laid on one surface of a thin, plastic film base, for example, of polyester. The ink layer of recording sheet is overlaid on paper, and the back face of recording sheet is heated by a heating means such as a thermal head to transfer ink to the paper, thereby effecting printing. Such facsimile devices are provided with an apparatus for indicating the end of recording sheet.
For indication of the end of recording sheet, an end mark with a reflective surface is normally provided in the vicinity of a shaft fixed end (terminal end) of recording sheet to a roll shaft. This end mark is given on either the hot melt ink layer side or the opposite side thereto of the recording sheet, and is optically detected by a sensor having a light source and a photodetector. This end mark is printed on the recording sheet by flexography or gravure printing.
As described above, the heat transfer recording sheet is wound in a roll form around a roll shaft, which is used in facsimile devices. Incidentally, the recording sheet wound around a roll shaft forms a sheet roll, which needs a subshaft for rolling the used recording sheet fed out from the roll shaft when used in facsimile devices. In this case, the leading end of the recording sheet is rolled on the subshaft, so that the sheet roll is combined with the subshaft to compose a combination. Every combination is transported or stored.
Meanwhile, such a combination of a sheet roll with a subshaft is set in a container and thereafter is packaged, but presently there is no method for quickly and surely packaging the combination.